I’ve never understood why Event Horizon received so much criticism upon its release. I thought it was quite enjoyable in a horror/sci-fi kind of way…
As for Aliens, my main gripe with Alien3 and Resurrection was the decision to actually show more of the Aliens. The fear in the first two films was that you knew they were there but just couldnt see them until BAM, you get something like the death of Bishop in Alien. The same thing happened in AvP, you just saw them all too much for their to be any horror factor…
As for film to movie conversions in general I think the problem is they can sometimes take themselves too seriously. Now I dont mean they should be all slapstick but look at the 80s action movies, the like of Commando and anything else with Schwarzenegger in it, those types of fims (in my opinion) are classics and drew the guidlines for how proper “action films” should be made.
The problem is however, most directors have forgotten how to make them properly and it also seems that the movie going public want a little more substance in what they watch…pity really…